Long Island has historically been a place of farming. All manner of fruits, vegetables, and other agricultural uses have taken place over many decades.

With these uses came the use of pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals common to agriculture.

Levittown, NY in the 1950s

With the rise of the suburbs (1920s-1960s), Long Island became more populated. As a result our relationship with pesticides shifted. Less used for agriculture, now these chemicals were being used in close proximity to homes for pest management. Concerns regarding health impacts began to grow.

In the 70's, increased cancer rates caused a shift in thinking about commonly used pesticides on Long Island. New York State banned DDT (what was then a widely used pesticide), which was found to cause cancer and accumulate in the food chain, posing a risk to public health and the environment.

EPA follows New York's lead one year later with a nationwide ban.

The state enacts the Pesticide Reporting Law in 1997 requiring that commercial businesses licensed to apply these potentially hazardous substances report which ones they are using and post signs warning that pesticides have been applied.

In the year 2000 New York State enacts the Pesticide Neighbor Notification Law, requiring that neighbors who reside in a New York State county that has opted into the law be informed, depending on the type of dwelling, 24 to 48 hours in advance of a pesticide application to an abutting property.

Curbing Our Use of Pesticides Is Critical For Ground Water Quality!

Cleanup of groundwater contaminated by pesticides often is impossible, and the contamination may last for many years. The cold temperatures and low microbial activity in groundwater cause pesticide degradation to occur more slowly than at the soil surface. The slow movement of groundwater means that it may take decades for the contaminated water to flow beyond the affected wells. Even determining which wells will be affected and for how long is a difficult problem, necessitating expensive long-range monitoring to ensure the safety of drinking water supplies.

Clearly, the best solution is to keep pesticides out of groundwater through careful storage, use, and disposal practices.